The Score: Stats show Serena Williams’ meltdown was the worst choke in women’s tennis history

The stats boffins have crunched the numbers and confirmed what we all suspected. For Serena Williams to lose her quarter-final clash after leading 5-1 and holding three match points is officially the worst choke in women’s tennis history.

Serena Williams reacts during her loss to Karolina Pliskova. Picture: AP Photo

The stats boffins have crunched the numbers and confirmed what we all suspected was the case regarding Serena Williams’ quarter-final meltdown.

According to The Economist magazine, the third set collapse from the game’s best player was the biggest choke recorded in women’s tennis.

Williams led 5-1 and blew four match points against Karolina Pliskova who admitted afterwards she’d started to think about her trip home before the extraordinary turn of events.

BAD LOSS: I’VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT

AUSSIE WATCH: WHICH AUSSIES STOOD TALL

According to The Economist, on the women’s professional circuit a player who gets a match point generally ends up winning 97 per cent of the time.

A simple predictive model, which assumes that the two opponents are of equal strength, suggests that a player serving for the match in a deciding set at 5-1 up and 40-30 should win 98.9% of the time.

Funnily, this longwinded mathematical breakdown with all its numbers fails to mention one pretty important fact — the twisted ankle which Williams suffered that clearly impacted on what happened in the deciding set.

Serena Williams reacts during her loss to Karolina Pliskova. Picture: AP Photo

TEAM WILLIAMS STUCK IN MELBOURNE

IT hasn’t been a great few days for Serena whose efforts to leave Melbourne were thwarted on Thursday night by a faulty plane.

Serena, her husband Alexis Ohanian and sister Venus had checked into the Qantas First-Class Lounge for their flight to San Francisco.

But just as they were settling in, they were informed that the flight had been cancelled because the plane had been deemed unsafe to make the trip.

After wandering around Tullamarine for a little while, a fleet of Australian Open cars arrived to whisk the Williams team back to their city accommodation.

STORY BEHIND THE DAVIS CUP TATTS

THERE has been a lot of discussion about the passion this current crop of tennis stars have for the Davis Cup.

The change of format has again fuelled this but there’s no such issues in Australia (unless you’re Bernard Tomic of course).

Captain Lleyton Hewitt told the annual Davis Cup luncheon on Friday that the next generation of Aussie players had started a tattoo tradition.

Last year Alex de Minaur got 109 inked on his chest to signify he was the 109th player to play Davis Cup for Australia.

Teammate Jordan Thompson has 107 on his rig to go with the Australian coat of arms and Olympic rings which he got on his right bicep after his Olympic debut in Rio in 2016.

THE TWEET

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Big applause and congrats to @RafaelNadal and his whole team for bringing tennis to another dimension. His game is more than inspiring to me. I really hope to get closer next time.

Big thanks to everyone for your support these two weeks here in Melbourne. I love this city!

— Stefanos Tsitsipas (@StefTsitsipas) January 24, 2019

ALCOTT AUCTIONING OFF SPECIAL NIKE SHOES

DYLAN Alcott is auctioning off the special Nike shoes which he’ll wear in Saturday’s quad wheelchair singles final.

The Australian hero, who is gunning for his fifth straight Open crown at Melbourne Park, is putting them on eBay to raise money to help young Australians with disabilities via his foundation.

Nike only made three pairs of the ‘Air Zoom Zero’ shoes and Dylan has promised to wear socks in the final to ensure the auctioned pair are clean for the lucky bidder.

“Growing up, had you told my parents that Nike would make me a player exclusive shoe, they would’ve laughed,” Dylan said.

“Now that it’s happened, both them and I can’t quite believe it. I’ve worked closely with ANZ and Nike throughout my life and tennis seasons so when they surprised me with my own shoe, I was speechless — and that’s rare!”

The auction runs until the end of Dylan’s Australian Open campaign.

Dylan Alcott is auctioning off the special Nike shoes which he’ll wear in Saturday’s quad wheelchair singles final. Picture: Michael Klein

GRAND:

HE’S almost been a permanent fixture in this section but Stefanos Tsitsipas gets the nod again for not racing to the airport after his loss like many of his colleagues seem to do. Instead he made his way to the Greek restaurant who’d named a souvlaki in his honour and tasted the goods.

SLAM:

SAM Stosur double-faulting on championship point. We know she ended up winning the doubles crown but the heartache she gives her fans is very tough to handle sometimes.

THE WHISPER:

DID a drone pick up footage of an international superstar with their new partner on a balcony recently?